The U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 objectives to “end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all,” ultimately “will be led by countries,” the world body says. But the most innovative ideas for creating clean water, reliable energy, and sustainable fisheries are found as far as one can get from government agencies or U.N. planning bureaucracies. Entrepreneurs using smartphone technology—which is abundant even outside the world’s richest countries—are providing consumers access to information and markets that help them lead more sustainable lives. Something as small as an app is already proving it can deliver in ways that even the power and reach of government bureaucracies cannot.

United Nations officials set the SDGs for 2030, by which time nations are supposed to meet certain metrics to improve energy efficiency, conserve water, and reduce overfishing , among several other aims. The goals themselves are laudable and continue a worldwide trend the past few decades toward more economic prosperity and a cleaner environment. Achieving them, however, will occur only if, as the U.N. puts it, “we manifest these goals in our own lives.”